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  1. #1
    Seasoned Camper Dave27's Avatar
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    I can't believe I let the GPS lead us into...

    I can't believe I let the GPS lead us into Bar Harbor, Maine. If you haven't been to Bar Harbor, it is a small town that is very popular with tourists. The streets are narrow, parked cars are everywhere, pedestrians are everywhere, and there are buses running around. We entered this mess from a side street that ended at the "main" street, so we had to turn right. We couldn't even get to the intersection until the bus moved, then had to wait for traffic behind the bus because there wasn't room for two way traffic with the way cars were parked. When we got to the intersection, there was no traffic light. We were on our own to wait for traffic to clear in both directions because we would take up both lanes to clear the turn. Oh, there were also a lot of pedestrians. Did I mention there is a lot of traffic, and parked cars lining both sides of the narrow road? Well we made it through without an incident, just a few people staring, wondering why we were pulling a 5th wheel through town. I wondered the same thing. I felt like I passed my advanced RV drivers test.

    Lesson learned- don't always trust your GPS, especially near the end of a trip when you are traveling on local roads. Before we got to Bar Harbor, we came to an intersection. The GPS said turn left, which took us into Bar Harbor. If we had gone straight, it would have been an easy drive to the campground. We actually wondered which way we should go at the intersection, but because we didn't know where we were relative to the campground, we made the quick decision to follow the GPS. We would have been better off if we had taken a couple minutes to understand where we were.

    Dave
    2016 Reflection 27RL
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  2. #2
    Commercial Member huntr70's Avatar
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    Yeah, Bar Harbor is tough.

    When I had a dually, the police wouldn't even let me into town, as the streets are so narrow.
    Steve- Inventory Manager at Tom Schaeffer's RV, Shoemakersville, PA www.tomschaeffers.com
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    2011 RAM 3500 SRW Outdoorsman Edition 4X4, 6.7 Cummins--TWEAKED!
    2021 Reflection 310RLS

  3. #3
    Site Sponsor sande005's Avatar
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    I too learned that lesson in Maine. Portland to be exact. Luckily, we had dropped the fifth at the campground, and were just looking to go to a nearby park/wharf area. Was using the old Garmin DEZL, which was really a trucker's GPS slightly revamped for use with RV's. Didn't realize until we started out that it was still in "RV" mode, and there were many obstructions on the way - overpasses, "no trucks" streets, etc. It tried hard to find a route, but we went through a lot of pretty harrowing (for just the tow vehicle) residential areas. VERY glad I was not actually towing anything, never would have made it. Now I spend more time pre-scouting urban areas - google maps, google earth, atlases, etc. before I fully trust the machine....
    2017 Imagine 2670MK
    2012 F-150 SCrew, Eco, 4x4 6.5 box
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    (Previous: Jayco 26.5RLS Fifth, Revolution Pinbox)

  4. #4
    Rolling Along TNFSolitude's Avatar
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    My Garmin 760 was in RV mode when it took us down 2 narrow pot hole filled roads to our recent campground in Bruceton Mills, WV. The correct path, and when not in RV mode, was a straight shot from the exit ramp to the campground on Hazelton Rd. Imagine 2 sides of a triangle combining 6 miles of narrow, holey, bouncing, 22 mph of uneven "pavement", with 4 miles of straight, smooth paved road. What goes on in the mind of GPS programmers? From that moment on we use Google Maps app to double check every route and am considering selling the garmin.
    Another example was going to the golf course from the campsite. The Garmin wanted to take us through the campground and out the other side. Trouble is, there is no "out the other side". Per campground staff the resort was developed 40 years ago and the other side was closed to traffic. Where does Garmin get its own road information?
    This has happened in northern Michigan, parts of Pennsylvania, and other places as well. I used to be a big proponent of the Garmin brand, I've owned four, upgrading when new features were introduced. I used to really promote my Garmin, especially here on the Forum. No More!
    End of rant.
    Tom & Nancy
    Newport, MI
    369RL, #302

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  5. #5
    Big Traveler CWSWine's Avatar
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    That is what I like about CO-Pilot for RV, you can zoom out and look at the route and drag to a new route. Traveling the interstates a standalone GPS most of the time works fine but when we leave the interstate I use CO-Pilot to zoom in and out checking the route. If there still any questions about the route I will use AllStays App to get a satellite view of the area. We use on an IPad Pro since my eyes are not good enough and my fingers are to fat to use it on phone. I will say that 95% of the time CO-Pilot and Garman 760 close to identical routes. CO-Pilot for RV doesn't use cell service, the maps are on the device.
    Dennis & Ellie
    Current 2017 Newmar Ventana Class A & 1994 Airstream Excella Classic Limited Project
    Sold - 310-GK-R Delivered 28 Oct 2016
    2016 GMC Denali 1 Ton Diesel SRW Payload 3727LBS B&W Hitch

  6. #6
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave27 View Post
    I can't believe I let the GPS lead us... Well we made it through without an incident, just a few people staring, wondering why we were pulling a 5th wheel through town. I wondered the same thing. I felt like I passed my advanced RV drivers test.

    Lesson learned- don't always trust your GPS,

    Dave
    Trust but verify. I have found that people are often very helpful when you get into a sticky wicket. I also take a look at my route the night before so that I have a general idea of where I am going and many is the time I have pulled over to the side of the road to take another look at a different map source.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  7. #7
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CWSWine View Post
    That is what I like about CO-Pilot for RV,
    I went to get this app but when I read the reviews they were consistently horrible. Can you tell me why this app would be better than Google Maps?
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  8. #8
    Big Traveler CWSWine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    I went to get this app but when I read the reviews they were consistently horrible. Can you tell me why this app would be better than Google Maps?
    I love the app and the only sore point is dragging is not perfect. Getting it drag exactly where want to can be frustrating at times. I use it because it takes into account your RV and the size of your RV. I will have to go read the reviews and see what they are saying. I have used for almost 2 years.
    Dennis & Ellie
    Current 2017 Newmar Ventana Class A & 1994 Airstream Excella Classic Limited Project
    Sold - 310-GK-R Delivered 28 Oct 2016
    2016 GMC Denali 1 Ton Diesel SRW Payload 3727LBS B&W Hitch

  9. #9
    Big Traveler CWSWine's Avatar
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    I use two apps while traveling that has kept me out trouble and don't have any financial interest in them.

    AllStays Camping App. Allows you to find campgrounds along your route but where it stands out is being able to use satellite view to check out the grounds and get an idea of the route to get into the site. Also, you see the general layout of the campgrounds and if it is somewhere you like to stay. Seems silly but I always check to make sure there isn't a train track that runs close to the campgrounds and how close it is the highway because of noise.

    AllStays Truck App. I use the app more than any other traveling App. It shows rest stops and gives me the closest mile marker. It shows trucks stops on your route and what services they have and restaurants they have. Even more important I can check the truck stop by using satellite view and I check entrance and exits. I also can check what kind of parking they have and if they have pull type parking or just back in. Lot times we will find one with pull-through parking so we can lunch while on the road. I know, trucks fuels are higher than non-trucks stops but I pay the difference for the convenience of using the trucker pumps.

    AllStays Walmart App. Allstays has free Walmart app that shows the location of Walmarts, ratings, policy that Walmart has about parking overnight in the parking lot. It also has a satellite view so check out the area. I'm not a big fan of parking at Walmarts but if are a great app to have.

    With those apps and Garmin 760 GPS and the flexibility of CO-Pilot, I have been able to avoid most those bad experiences while traveling. None of them is 100% but together they improve my odds of staying out of trouble.
    Dennis & Ellie
    Current 2017 Newmar Ventana Class A & 1994 Airstream Excella Classic Limited Project
    Sold - 310-GK-R Delivered 28 Oct 2016
    2016 GMC Denali 1 Ton Diesel SRW Payload 3727LBS B&W Hitch

  10. #10
    Big Traveler CWSWine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    I went to get this app but when I read the reviews they were consistently horrible. Can you tell me why this app would be better than Google Maps?
    I read a bunch of the reviews. I do agree with some of them, it will take you off the interstate at times but that is the very reason I like the zoom out function. When does take me on route that CO-Pilot thinks is better route I can zoom out and decided if I want to take that route or drag back to the interstate. When I leave home it takes me to I5 then wants me to turn down two lane road that goes through small towns and lot speed changes but it shorter and OK for a two lane road for RVs. I always drag to little longer route that says on I5 and turn south on I35 which just easier more relaxing of a route. It's lot harder using my Garmin to view the route and decided which way I want to go.
    Dennis & Ellie
    Current 2017 Newmar Ventana Class A & 1994 Airstream Excella Classic Limited Project
    Sold - 310-GK-R Delivered 28 Oct 2016
    2016 GMC Denali 1 Ton Diesel SRW Payload 3727LBS B&W Hitch

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